You Look Good With Curls [Ada, Yugiri]

"Well, I know your right. It shouldn't be, I don't know why I try to help others like I do."

She didn't quite get it, but Ada made a good point. She shouldn't dwell on what Chidori, though it did. It annoyed her that she bit her lip and worked through whatever stupid ultimatums where given to her but she can't even make one to her older sister and have it thrown back in her face. It was so frustrating, it just made her want to slap her. Once, then maybe another time and just keep going for the way it just sat on her mind. She did not envy Rio and how she must deal with it.

"Well, I suppose so. I don't really know if I'm all you make me out to be though, when I was younger I couldn't walk. I was just some crybaby cripple and rather than accepting the fact I.. I took the easy way out and changed it. I guess it's in the past, I can't change it and I don't regret it. I'd do it again, but it still annoys me nonetheless. Was I wrong to do that?"

"It can be difficult to deny others when they ask for our help. Distinguishing between what is good, and what is self-destructive, is no easy task."

Listening to Yugiri's question made Ada a bit sad. She understood why Yugiri would feel such a way, but that only made it all the more difficult for Ada to hear. She shook her head, even if Yugiri could not see it, and replied quite resolutely.

"Certainly not. We should never accept the things we hate. If it was in your power to change it, then you have every right to do so. 'The higher man is distinguished from the lower by his fearlessness, and his readiness to challenge misfortune.' Any who would hold you to account for that, who would call such self-affirmation a sin, are shortsighted. It does not matter whether the route was easy, Yugiri. You changed yourself by your own will, overcame even physical adversity for your own sake, and you are now here before me as a woman of character that I find wholly agreeable. You should not worry that such a thing was wrong. I think, rather, that it is worthy of pride."

"..."

Yugiri trembled a little bit, hearing Ada say that. She didn't damn her for it, she praised her for it. Those words made her eyes watery. Sure, some people had never hated her for what she had done all those years ago but she could tell it wasn't something they were impressed by. A noblewoman like her, doing such a thing and becoming a vizard to walk again.

It was entirely impulsive that she leaned back into Ada for saying that. She didn't want to cry, it was humilating to break down and get all emotional like this. She probably looked pathetic to Ada but that didn't matter, it made her really happy to hear that come from someone.

Ada had, on some level, expected an emotional response from Yugiri, given the nature of their conversation. She perhaps had not expected this specific reaction, but she absolutely did not mind it. If these emotions needed to be expressed, then so be it. She would not pretend to understand the depths of Yugiri's hardship, but such a thing did not matter. What mattered was the strength Yugiri had shown, and in the moment, Ada was thoroughly willing to offer her help.

So, naturally, she simply offered a gentle, reassuring hug, for as long as Yugiri needed.